Suspect appears in court over series of Stamford Hill assaults

A 28-year-old man has appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court accused of attacking five people in Stamford Hill last month.

Abdullah Qureshi, from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, has been charged with one count of racially or religiously aggravated wounding or grievous bodily harm, four counts of racially or religiously aggravated common assault and one count of racially or religious aggravated criminal damage.

The charges relate to five incidents on 18th August investigated by Metropolitan Police’s Central East Command Unit. Groups including Campaign Against Antisemitism and Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer neighbourhood watch patrol, put out witness appeals following the incidents, as three of the five alleged incidents were caught on video.

In one incident at 18:41, an Orthodox Jewish man was struck in the face with what appeared to be a bottle. In another at 19:10, a child was slapped on the back of the head, and in yet another at 20:30, a 64-year-old victim was struck and left unconscious on the ground, suffering facial injuries and a broken ankle.

It is understood that two further incidents have been alleged.

A trial has been scheduled for 1st October at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “These attacks were not ‘random’ in the usual sense: these victims were chosen because they are Jews. We applaud the police for their swift investigation and expect the authorities to ensure that justice is done for the victims of these violent hate crimes.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.